There are times when I'd like to share something with you but my Voice in the Gardensite does not seem the appropriate place, thus, this blog.

There are experiences, thoughts, views... and for anyone lurking/waiting to pounce (as has occurred on several occasions), please do not attempt to turn what I post into a political statement. This is NOT a political site, but IS about occurrences, reality, and personal opinion concerning what I see in the world around me and my family. There are many excellent writers whose works "speak" to me, and I shall include some of them. At times it may be something I think you would enjoy or simply whatever ails you (me).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

I ran across this article by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stones Magazine.Some may want to read it while others are likely saying I don't want to hear about it. In other words, I'll just pretend it doesn't affect me, when in fact it does. The debt and scars have penetrated our very souls and that of our offspring.

An example: you and I would go to jail, our property confiscated, if we refused to pay our taxes. Yet, we have members of Congress and cabinet members who have avoided paying them, and they have been excused with a slap on the wrist, and some even given prominent positions. What has happened to us? When do we start caring for what is going on and has been for decades? Where are our voices?

I'm tired, tired of the dishonesty, the cheaters, immorality, corruption, complacency, secrecy; the lack of common sense, refusal to address... and should someone attempt to bring a crime to the fore, try to remedy, then they themselves experience the scorched earth tactic, an attempt to destroy. But enough... here is Matt's article.

Why Isn't Wall Street In Jail?

Financial crooks brought down the world's economy — but the feds are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them.

Over drinks at a bar on a dreary, snowy night in Washington this past month, a former Senate investigator laughed as he polished off his beer.

"Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail," he said. "That's your whole story right there. Hell, you don't even have to write the rest of it. Just write that."

I put down my notebook. "Just that?"

"That's right," he said, signaling to the waitress for the check. "Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail. You can end the piece right there."

Nobody goes to jail. This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall Street embroiled in obscene criminal scandals that impoverished millions and collectively destroyed hundreds of billions, in fact, trillions of dollars of the world's wealth — and nobody went to jail. Nobody, that is, except Bernie Madoff, a flamboyant and pathological celebrity con artist, whose victims happened to be other rich and famous people.

The problem is that the corruption is pervasive and doesn't rest with only the current administration, but rather has been going on for decades; it's the corporations, lobbyists, congressional members, financial industry, rating agencies....all in bed with one another. I don't know how we ever fix this or even if we can... complex and interwoven. I am an optimist but I don't think it's possible to stop it. Like a runaway train, you might be able to slow it down, but that's about it, until it crashes.